Wait Until Tomorrow
by gioalle1
Summary: Her eyes can now see a red jacket, blond curls, piercing green eyes. "Regina! What have you done?" "Tell me your name!" Emma is screaming. "Tell me my name!"


_Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not mine._

_Post-curse, no Cora._

_Personal Headcanon: everyone can lose their memories if they cross SB boundary. Including Regina. Anyway, personal enchanted objects can contrast this effect._

* * *

It's friday night. For Emma Swan this means that she has the chance to establish a closer relationship with her sofa, her tv and a couple of beers.

An uncommon sense of concern has been invading her mind all day long. _An inexplicable sense of concern_, she keeps on saying to herself.

Probably because, for the first time in weeks, Henry seems almost fine to spend the night at Regina's mansion. That's the way they now call that place. For Henry, it's not _my home _anymore, not even _mum's home_. Sometimes Emma is afraid the whole issue is going to degenerate in a distant _Ms Mills' Mansion_, and that's basically why she's trying to convince her kid to spend time with her mother.

But that strange concern is still there, and it's probably when she sees the name _Henry _appearing on the display of her phone, that she's grateful for that feeling that kept her away from those bottles of beer, staring at her on the table.

"I can't find her" says Henry with a flat voice. But he's only 12, and it's too much even for him, and his stupid _keeping the distance with my mother _strategy, because it takes Emma two seconds to start feeling his concern, too. He takes a deep breath and starts talking again, while Emma is still silent, staring at those bottles.

"We were talking. She told me she would have called you so you could pick me up".

Emma feels a shiver. "Kid, you were supposed to sleep there and stay with your mother. Why on heart would she-"

"- I told her something, mum" Henry says, without even waiting for Emma to state something he already knows. He was supposed to stay there, to sleep in what Regina calls _his bed, _to have dinner with her, to enjoy her lasagna and all the other dishes he likes so much. Or, at least, he _liked _so much. Before the coming of french fries. Before the coming of Emma Swan.

"Kid, it's ok. We're going to talk about it later. Now think" Emma says. To Henry, but mostly to herself.

"Tell me the last time you saw her"

"About thirty minutes ago. She told me she she wanted to call you, that everything was ok...and that she wasn't angry and...that I could go _to my home_ with you"

"Ok, Henry. Everything is going to be ok. Now I'm calling Snow and David so they can come and pick you up. And I'm going to find your mother, right?"

It just takes Henry a couple of minutes to stop being a stubborn kid and start acting like a 12 years old boy who made a mess. Just a couple of minutes before he starts to cry.

"Find her, mum. I need to say sorry...".

Breaking city speed limits, and using her phone to read the message sent by Snow, who has now Henry with her, has suddenly become the new plan for this friday night. A night when Storybrooke has never looked so big and chaotic, just because you now desperately need to find your son's mother and gods only know where the hell she can be.

Henry's words are still on her mind; small pieces of a confusing scenario Emma is trying to imagine. A fight, maybe. Some rude words spoken by a stubborn kid who perfectly knows how to hit _her mother,_ _Regina_, _the Evil Queen from a fucking fairy tale world_.

A human being, still.

Emma is thinking about how she will need all her strength to talk with the kid about it, to ask for some kind of explanation.

She is also thinking about how to behave as a mother. This is a huge thing. And shit, she has never been in front of something so difficult in her entire life.

Her mind is brought violently to reality when she notices a black figure walking in the middle of the road. The familiar road with the street sign "Welcome to Storybrooke" she hates so much. That's where everything started, where everything could end, for every citizen living in that fake town in Maine.

The city limits. A yellow line, drawn on the asphalt. And Regina is dangerously getting close to it.

Brake. Turn off the car. And run.

That's all Emma Swan can do.

Screaming Regina's name, begging her to stop walking is something unrequested she's happy to add. Because she really need to scream the name of that woman who is basically trying to screw everything, to draw a line to everything she has tried to build during those few last weeks. Path of redemption, as they call it.

Lines, lines, lines.

Lines on the asphalt.

Lines erasing memories. People. Feelings.

Emma Swan has learnt how to hate lines, lately. And again, she won't allow one of them to win again.

She runs faster than even, while Regina doesn't even bother to turn her head to notice Emma is there and she's running to her. To fight, to scream, but mostly to stop her from making another mistake.

And surrender is not something Regina Mills likes. But now it seems so easy to forget, to erase her memories, to give up.

She has never given up in life, mostly because she has always been good enough in finding new aims, new goals. Something she's totally unable to find now.

She will always being the Evil Queen, like her son called her a couple of hours before. Not _mum_, not _mother_. "You should be happy I call you Regina, because sometimes the only name fitting you seems to be _the Evil Queen_" were the exact words.

Words she wanted to erase. Together with million of memories filling her brain and her heart.

She can't bear this city, anymore.

A city she created and that now has become her prison. A city in which she was the only one waking up like it was the day before, without a tomorrow or some kind to perspective for the future.

She will never wake up on a new day. She will always be defined by her past.

And the yellow line, just a step farther, is the perfect solution. No more magic, no more Regina.

But she's proud, so fucking proud; she turns her body to Emma Swan, who is running like a wild animal towards her, calling her by a name, _her name_, she will erase in a few seconds.

She wants Emma to come closer, just to watch her directly in the eyes because that's there, _with her_, that the destruction of Regina Mills began.

At it lasts a second.

A glimpse in the sheriff's eyes.

Her legs slowly making a step backwards.

The yellow line coming closer and closer.

A strange pain starting from her forearm.

Her eyes can now see the yellow line in front of her feet. _She did it._

Her eyes can now see a red jacket, blond curls, piercing green eyes.

"_Regina! What have you done?"_

Her eyes can also see a strong hand tightening her forearm.

Emma. Swan. Hand.

And that name comes out in a such familiar way. And it's not ok. She knows that something's wrong, because she crossed that line but everything is still so clear and vivid.

"Tell me your name!" Emma is screaming. "Tell me _my_ name!"

Emma's hand is squeezing Regina's arm harder and harder and her fingers are almost burning like she has flames all around her hand. She can swear she also sees tiny purple sparks, but Regina's eyes are claiming her attention.

"Tell me your name! Now!"

"Don't leave me" is the only thing Regina can articulate. She's confused, she's in pain, but mostly she's afraid. "Don't leave my arm" she begs, again.

Emma remains silent, but she's pretty sure she could stay there, holding Regina's arm, for years.

"Look me in the eyes, _now_. I need you to tell me your name. And then my name. And our son's name"

Regina is frozen and her eyes wander again, until they find again Emma's hand.

"Emma Swan. Regina Mills. Or the Evil Queen, according to our son, Henry"

After the time spent looking for Regina, and the run trying to catch her, Emma still has the strength to pull her on her arms. On the right side of the yellow line. In Storybrooke, again.

The hug is still strong, especially on Emma's side.

"You remember". Emma statement seems obvious, but she still needs a confirmation from Regina.

"Every single mistake I've done in my life".

"This last one has been solved. Stop worrying about it. We solved it"

"There are many more, I can assure you". Regina's voice is weak and her whole body, on Emma's arms, is even weaker. The smell of her leather jacket invades her nostrils and Regina is so happy to remember how she has always hated that particular smell.

"Everyone makes mistakes. Tomorrow we can start thinking about them. But now, let's just go home". The hug becomes even tighter. "Tomorrow, Regina".

"Tomorrow".

_-fin-_


End file.
